Fire-extinguisher.



S. L.- HARWOOD.

FIRE BXTINGUISHBR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 11. 1912.

1,068,897. Patented Ju1y29,1913

/f E22- l ff f2 l ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT oEE-ioE.

SUMPTER LEA HARWOOD, OF DUBLIN, GEORGIA, .ASSIGNOR40F*.'.IJHR.'Elt'si-EIGHTIEIS T0 JAMES M. FINN, QF DUBLIN, GEORGIA.

FmE-EXmINGUISHE-R.

YSpecification fLettersBatent. v

Application ,led May 11, 1912. Serial No. .696,61 4.

,To all whom t may concern.'

Beit` known that I, SUMBTER L..H4Rwoon,

. a citizen of the United States, and a resident `automobiles and othermotor vehiclesfor vthe .purpose of extinguishing fires due to ignitionof thecontents of v the carbureter, or

from any other causes;` and the primary ob- ]ect thereofis to produce adevice of the .kind mentioned which can be' thrown into Voperationsimply by turning a handle .0r lever and made to discharge a stream ofre rextinguishing Huid upon the flames and ,smother them.

Reference is to vloe had to the' accompanying. drawings forming apart.of this specification, in which the same characters of referenceindicate the same parts in 4all the views.

Figure 1 is a side. elevation of my iniproved re extinguisher; Fig. 2 isa longitudinal sectional View of the same; Fig. -3 is a bottom planthereof; and Fig-4 is a view of a detail of my invention.

vReferring particularly to the drawings, I employ the numeral 1 todesignate the body orcasing of my improved fire extinguisher, this bodybeing preferably cylindrical in shape, having its ends closed by theheads 2.

These heads 2 are joined by tie rods 3, which hold them firmly in place,making .a closed structure .This casing is secured to the dashboard orto some `other part ,of the auto'lnobilezby means .of clamps 4, which.are passed around the .same-adjacent the ends thereof,.as shown in thedrawings.

In the heads 2 of the casing l are formed stutiing boxes 5, throughwhich pass the ends of a rod 6, von which is mounted inside the casing apiston. This piston rod projects :from both. ends of the casingy andhas. one

. their ybases rest one againstthevhead 2 and the other against a disk 7which closes the outer end ofthe section 8, this disk being Aalsomounted on the rod 6 by screw-thread- 1ng,.and normallv abutting againstthe end pf the knob 7. If preferred, the knob and the disk may be madein one piece. The functionof thesprings 9 is to,force the disk 7 landthe rod 6 outward to operate the piston on the rod 6, the section 8remaining stationary, being -secured to t-he head 2 upon .Patented July29, 1913.

which it tits; and discharge the fire extinguishing Huid from the casingwhen occasion arises to usethe same. The opposite end of therod 6, whereit passes through the lstuiiing box 5, is reduced, as shown at 11,andthe portion which projects from this end is'still further reduced, asshown at 12, and terminates in a head or button 13. This head or button13 forms a shoulder and passes` through an aperture 14 having a suitablenotch formed in its edge in a pivoted vbar 15, which is secured by meansof a screw 16|.tov the adjacent head 2. The opposite endof this bar isprovided with a transverse slot 17, curved concentric with the pin 16,and is likewise provided with an opening18 between the slot and theadjacent end .of this bar. f

The numeral 19 represents a boss or bearing formed on the edge of thehead 2 adjacent the bar 15, andv at the opposite end of the casing is aperforated nipple 20, the bore of which communicates with a ductleadingthrough the adjacent head 2 to the interior of the casing 1. Toone end of this nipple is secured a section of hose or other tubingthrough which the fire extinguishing fluid can be discharged to anypoint; and the passage through the nipple is controlled by means of arotary valve 21. This valve is operated by .a stem 22, which passesalong the casing 1 through the bearing 19 and the slot 17 in the bar 15,and terminates in a head 23. This head 23 has a handle 24, and it alsois formed with a projection 25 which passes into the opening 18, asshown in Fig. 2.

-The numeral 26 represents an opening through which the casing 1 can befilled, this opening being closed by a screw-threaded plug in the shapeof a wing nut, as shown in Fig. 1.

Inoperation, the bar 15. will be 1n such position that .the reduced end12 of the rod 6 will lie in the notch of the recess 14, and the button13 will engage the lower` surface of this rod and hold the rod 6 in suchposition that the piston thereon will be adjacent the stuiing box 5 atthe end opposite the springs 9, as shown in Fig. 2. -The projection 25from the head4 23 fitting into the opening 18, and this head 23 beingfast to the valve stem 22, the valve 21 thereon must occupy a certainposition with respect to the bar 15 and the rod 6 at this time, and thisposition is the closed position of the valve, to prevent any of thefluid in the casing 1 from passing out through the hose attached to thenipple 20. In the event of fire, the operator lays hold of the handle 24and turns it, rotating the stem. 22 and the valve thereon until thevalve comes into open position. The direction of rotation will beclockwise, referring to the position of the parts in Fig. 2, and themoment the head "23 is turned with the stem 22 as an axis, the

projection 25 swings the bar 15 to the left also, moving the notch 14away from the section 12 of the rod 6, and bringing the button intoregistry with the opening 14, which is of greater size than the button.The force of the-springs 9 is now effective against the inside of thedisk 7', and causes the rod 6 to draw the piston thereon toward the end2, to which is secured the nipple containing the valve 21. This positionof the parts is illus- -trated by the broken lines in Fig. 2, which showhow the springs force`the disk 7 u Ward, owing 'to the fact that the.disk abuts against the end of the knob-7 which is fixed on the outerend of the rod 6. This forces the iuid out through the bore of thenipple 20 and the hose attached thereto, and put's the [ire outimmediately. The valve 21 need only be turned through a small angle inorder to carry the bore of the same out of alinement with the passagewhich leads tothe discharge pipe. Should it not be necessaryv to use theentirecontents of the casing 1, the movement of the piston-can bechecked by turning the lever 24 to close thevalve. The body of fluidbetween the piston and the head. 2 through which' the rod passes willthen prevent the piston from moving further.

F rom an inspection of Fig. 2 it will be seen that the diameter of thebutton 13 is about the same as the diameter of the section 11 passingthrough the stufling box 5. The section 11 and the button 13 can bewithdrawn through the' bore of the stuffing box 5 entirely, and as thepiston rod is held in alinement with the bore of the stufiing box thebutton 13 and sections 11 and 12 will pass back through the stuing boxwhen the piston rod is moved to force the piston away from the dischargeend of the casing to allow the same to be refilled for further use.

Leakage is prevented through the bore of the stuiiing box 5 in the head2 adjacent the bar 15 by constructing the piston to consist of a pair ofplates 27 and 28, between which is clamped a disk of rubber or leather,the ends of which Aare turned 'toward the discharge end of the casing toform a flange 30. Ordinary nuts 31 may be used to clamp the disks 27 and28 together to hold the disk 29 firmly between them. When the pistonmoves toward the discharge end of the casing the action of the fluidwill tend to spread the flange 30 'and force the same into tight contactwith the inner surface of the casing 1, and all leakage will be thusobviated.

The body of the casing 1 between vthe heads 2 is preferably made ofglass, and the section beyond the head 2 in which the outlet is formedis made of brass, and the end thereof is closed by the lid or disk 7,which fits tightly upon the same. This brass section forms a housing forthe springs, which may be filled with oil, and the disk 7 may beprovided with a packing to have an air-tight fit with the end of thebushing. i

As stated above, the knob 7 and the disk 7 maybe made separate orintegral.v When the extinguisher piston is to be reset the rod 6 isforced down against the springs -9 until the button 13 againpassesvthrough the aperture 14 in the bar 15. In doing this the knob 7,and disk 7 as well, may be'unscrewed to some extent so that it will notbe necessary before locking the projection 13 to compress the springs 9to the full extent; and after the disk 7 and knob 7 can be screwed hometo closethe upper open end of the section 8. While the knob 7 and disk 7may be made separate or integral, the former construction is preferred,and it' is to be understood that it is not at all necessary that thedisk or cover 7 should be threaded on the outer end of the rod '6, butmay be loosely mounted thereon instead.

I wish to have it understood that the above description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings is illustrative only, and thatit illustrates only apreferred embodiment of my invention, and that I donot -care to be limited to the specific details thereof, but wish toreserve to myself the right to make whatever changes 11 the.

shape, size and arrangement of the parts which fairly fall within thescope of the ap ended claims.

aving thus described my invention, 'I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a fire extin-guisher, the combination of a casing having anoutlet, a valve for controllin said outlet, means inside said casing forde ivering the contents thereof through said outlet, means projectingoutside of Said casing and connected-to said means inside the casing'formoving said means inside the casing, a locking device for the meansprojecting outside the casing, means for operating the valve, and aconnection between the valve-operating means and the locking device torelease the means for delivering the contents of the casing when thevalve is opened. l

2. In a fire extinguisher, the combination of a casinghaving an outlet,a piston in said casing, a rod for said pistonpassing through the wallof the casing, a knob on the outer end of said rod, a compression springbetween the said knob and the said casing,' and a movable disk mountedon said rod to engage the casing and cover the spring when theextinguisher is notin use.

3. In a tire extinguisher, the combination of a casing having a valvecontrolled outlet,

a bar pivod. `to the casing, said bar having.

an openingltherethrough, a rod carrying a piston mounted 1n said casmg,Aone end `of said roel passing outof said casing and hav` ing a shoulderthereon which passes through the opening in the bar and engages the edgeof the same to hold the bar against movement, means for moving said rodto cause the piston to discharge'the. contentsthereof when the bar ismoved into position to allow the shoulder on the rod to move through theaperture therein, and means for operating the valve of the outlet fromsaid bar.

4. In a fire extinguisher, the combination of a casing, a rod thereinhaving a piston thereon, a bar pivoted to Said ca sing and having anaperture therethrough, one end of said rod having aprojectionthereon-which is adapted to pass through the aperture in thebar and engage the ed thereof to prevent movement of the ro an outletfrom the casing', a valve for the outlet,`saidva1ve having a stempassing through a slot in the outer end of said bar,and a handleconnected to the stem, said handle having a projection which engages anopening adjacent theslot,

ing to contain a, lubricant for said springs and to protect the same,-and means for locking the springsl compressed and releasing the same.

6. The combination of a casing, automatic .means for expelling thecontents thereof, means -for engaging and locking said automatic meansagainst action, a valve tents, and a connection between said valve andsaid locking means,|whereby when the valve is opened the 4actuatingmeans will be released.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

SUMPTER LEAHARWooD. Witnesses:

G. L. DIXON, M. A. ROGERS.

6,5 for controlling the discharge of said con-

